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Parliament debates Putin's plan to curb provinces' rights |
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June 24, 2000
MOSCOW (AP) - Regional officials have challenged President Vladimir Putin's proposal to rein in Russia's unruly provinces, but most lawmakers were expected to back the bill in a key legislative session Friday.
Putin's bill would strip governors and the heads of regional legislatures of their seats in the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and replace them with appointed legislators.
Governors are trying to water down the plan, which was being debated in a second reading Friday in the State Duma, or lower house. The second reading is the stage when bills are amended and take most of their final shape.
The Duma, dominated by pro-Kremlin parties, passed Putin's proposal in the first of three readings by a more than two-thirds majority.
Continued strong support Friday would demonstrate the Duma's ability to override a possible veto by hostile regional officials in the upper chamber. Such a veto would require the support of two-thirds of the deputies.
Governors have overcome their initial reluctance to defy Putin and have spoken out increasingly against the plan.
On Friday, Federation Council speaker Yegor Stroyev cautioned the Duma against hasty passage of the bill, saying it could lead to deadlock among the branches of government.
The Communists have also come out against the plan. Though they don't have enough votes to block it, any loss in support might deprive the bill of the veto-proof majority of 300 votes in the 450-member chamber.
Putin, who was elected president in March, has made strengthening federal control over Russia's independent-minded provinces a top priority. Some regions are reluctant to share revenues with Moscow, and they have passed local laws that violate federal ones.
Other parts of his plan would allow the president to dismiss elected governors and dissolve local legislatures whose policies violate federal law. Putin said that one-fifth of local laws violate the federal constitution.
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